ASUS announces world’s first gigabit LTE-capable laptop

Hawaii: Taiwanese tech major ASUS on Wednesday announced NovaGo (TP370), the world’s first Gigabit LTE-capable laptop, at the second annual “Snapdragon Technology Summit” here.

The 4GB RAM and 64GB “UFS 2.0” will be available for $599 while the 8GB RAM and 256GB variant will be available for $799.

The convertible laptop is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile PC platform and features a Gigabit Snapdragon X16 LTE modem that, the company claimed, offers download speeds exceeding that of typical home Wi-Fi.

“Today marks the beginning of a new era of personal computing and ASUS is very proud to be paving the way with Qualcomm Technologies and other partners to develop this new landscape for ‘Always Connected’ Windows on Snapdragon PCs,” Jerry Shen, CEO, ASUS, said in a statement.

The device has four antennas to support ultrafast connectivity through LTE Advanced Cat 16 cellular networking.

The device has up to 22-hour battery life with over 30 days of stand-by time and a built-in eSIM that ensures seamless connectivity across borders, the company said.

eSIM is an integrated chip that provides an always connected experience, enabling users to switch carriers easily without having to physically swap out SIM cards.

Users can simply activate a local data plan from Windows Store the moment they step off the plane. In addition, data sent via the 4G and 5G bands is encrypted, making it safer than public Wi-Fi.

“ASUS NovaGo is a convertible laptop with leading Gigabit LTE connectivity and battery life that revolutionises what the personal PC can be for consumers,” Cristiano Amon, President, Qualcomm Technologies Inc, said in a statement.

The device features Microsoft Windows 10 operating system with new features such as “Windows Ink”, “Windows Hello” and Cortana.